Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak queues for iPhone in Brisbane

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (SEPTEMBER 21, 2012) (SEVEN NETWORK) - Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, in Brisbane for a business forum, joined the hundreds of people queuing to get the iPhone 5.

The new phone, which was unveiled last week, went on sale first in Australia when stores there opened at 8.00 a.m. local time (2200 GMT Thursday).

"Well this is the place where the iPhone 5 is being released to the world for the first time in the world, and I don't have to wait 17 extra hours to get it in California," Wozniak said in an interview with the Seven Network's Sunrise program.

Wozniak, who was seventh in the queue for the new phone, was not phased by Apples competitors.

"I don't look at it as a comparison contest. No one product going to have all the good features in the world. So, competitors might have some very good things that we don't have on our iPhones and our iPhones might have some very good things that they don't have. I think the iPhone is the best. It's my favourite, I want it to be the greatest in the world. I want it to have some of the good features those other phones have," he said.

Some analysts expect Apple to sell up to 10 million iPhone 5 models in the remaining days of September.

The new phone has a larger, 4-inch screen and is slimmer and far lighter than the previous model. The iPhone 5 supports the faster 4G network and also comes with a number of software updates, including Apple's new in-house maps feature.

The new maps feature, however has been criticized by some users for a number of geographical errors, missing information and a lack of features.